Edward Seaga

Edward Seaga (28 May 1930-) was Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1 November 1980 to 10 February 1989, interrupting Michael Manley's two terms. From 1974 to 2005, he served as leader of the Jamaica Labor Party, and he was the last of Jamaica's founding generation to be active in national politics.

Biography
Edward Seaga was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 28 May 1930, the son of a Lebanese-Jamaican father and a Jamaican mother of African, Scottish, and Indian descent. His family returned to Jamaica when he was three months old, and he entered the music industry during the late 1950s as a music producer. During the 1960s, he became deeply involved in West Kingston's music scene, and his West India Records Limited (WIRL) company became the most successful record company in the Caribbean. In 1959, he was elected to the Legislative Council (now the Senate) as a member of the Jamaica Labor Party.

In 1962, Seaga sold his company after being elected to Parliament as a JLP member. He represented West Kingston in Parliament for 43 years, and he oversaw community development and promotion of Jamaican music. In 1980, he was elected Prime Minister after the JLP defeated the People's National Party in a landslide election. He oversaw nationwide infrastructural development, the protection of the poor and vulnerable, aid for small businesses, and balancing the powers of the executive branch and the parliament. He left office in 1989, and he remained JLP leader until 2005.